Lakers-Nuggets: Hollywood Knight! Kobe Bryant Erupts in The Fourth Quarter

"Better learn not to talk to me. You shake the tree, a leopard's gonna fall out."

Those were the words of Kobe Bryant after the 122-109 Game Two victory against the Denver Nuggets.

Kobe and Denver's J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin exchanged a few words during the game, which apparently ignited the explosive performance Bryant put on.

Bryant scored 20 points in the first quarter, two shy of the Lakers' playoffs record.

But if you thought that was good, then you obviously missed the fourth quarter. 

How about 19 points in a four minute span to seal the deal, and put the Lakers up 2-0?  Kobe also had 10 assists to add on to his performance.

Apparently the war of words Kobe had with Smith and Martin set him off, and he never looked back.

"I didn't realize it, you just get into one of those rhythms. My teammates were looking for me, it just feels like when you get hot, the ball just finds you."

Even teammate Lamar Odom had something to say about talking smack to Kobe.

"He's one of those players that you don't really want to make mad.  "He can make shots from anywhere with people on him. I was surprised [Martin was talking at him]. You never want to wake a sleeping giant. He can hit shots on anybody, on a number of defenders anywhere on the floor.

Once Kobe left the game after his scoring spree, the Staples Center crowd chanted "MVP, MVP."

Kobe gave us an MVP performance last night, and for future reference, I'm thinking it's not a good idea to tick off Kobe Bryant.

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Michael Whittenberg is a senior writer and NBA Community Leader for BleacherReport.com

Information from ESPN and NBA.com was used in this article.